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Sunday, April 24, 2022

Another Code Blue Season in the Books

                               Another Code Blue Season in the Books

By Albert B. Kelly

If you’re like me, right about now you want to turn your full attention toward spring and warm weather. While we have had our fill of the short days, cold temps and occasionally a little snow, I think there is value in taking a look back at the Code Blue season in order to keep supporters of the program informed as to what their contributions, whether of time, money, or materials accomplished over this past winter.

If you are not familiar with Code Blue, it is a program to provide a warming center for the community’s homeless to escape the worst of the winter weather from November through mid-April. When temps get down and remain below freezing, the program provides a place where the homeless can get out of the cold overnight. At its best, Code Blue can provide hot meals and, where there is a willingness on the part of the homeless, connection to wrap-around services that can stabilize a person’s living situation.

When the program initially started back in 2012-2013, the warming center was a movable program rotating amongst several churches. It has evolved to a semi-permanent home located at 7 Washington Street. Over the course of the 2021-2022 winter season, Bridgeton’s Code Blue program provided services to 42 separate individuals- many of whom were regular weekly or nightly users of the program. How often or how little Code Blue is activated various based on conditions.

At the start of the 2021-2022 season (November and December), the program logged 16 “overnights”. If there is a grudging upside to a warmer climate, it might be found amongst those trying to provide Code Blue services so that the homeless can dodge the harshest of winter conditions. The fewer Code Blue nights, the easier it is on all involved.

But there is always a price to pay and we paid it with the turn of the New Year. January has 31 days and this year there was a Code Blue in effect for 26 of them. There was a slight let up in February with a Code Blue in effect for sixteen days during that month. In total, Bridgeton Code Blue provided services for no less than 65 nights for the entire 2021-2022 season.

During the worst of the winter cold, the program extended its hours slightly so instead of a 6:00pm to 6:00am window, the program extended until 8:00am allowing people to sleep a little longer and avoid the cold for a couple more hours each day and while that might not sound like much, when it comes to homelessness and survival, it’s the little things that get you through a day.

The program had to function in the new normal of a global pandemic. Operating a centrally located program gave us the opportunity to provide ongoing and consistent Covid testing throughout the Code Blue season. Beyond testing, we were able to facilitate vaccinations for those who wanted them.

The pandemic has made many things difficult and that difficulty extends to finding people willing to volunteer their time. Despite this, the program was able to employ twelve part-time staff members willing to cover the four shifts in order to keep the program up and running.

Some nights, the program had a very low census count of only one or two persons in need of Code Blue services. In those instances, program resources were used to cover the costs of a local motel room which helped ease the burden on staff covering overnight shifts while also allowing the homeless to get a hot shower and have a little more time and space to avoid the cold before the 11am checkout.

On balance, the 2021-2022 Code Blue program was successful, but even as I write that, it’s hard to know what success looks like. In a perfect world, success is lifting people out of homelessness and into a stable life. We will continue to help those who are willing, working to give each person their opportunities, but they have to grab them and make them real. Short of that, it’s sometimes necessary to narrow the focus and success becomes keeping people alive for another day, another chance to maybe find their way.

I want to extend my gratitude to our local restaurants, churches, and residents for the many donations and gifts they have provided that allow the program to help our homeless put another season in the books.